Cost of living comparison

compared to

Cairns vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost of Living Summary

Cairns is 2.5 times more expensive than Ho Chi Minh City.

Restaurants
pay 5.6 times more in Cairns
Groceries
pay 2.1 times more in Cairns
Transportation
pay 33.8% more in Cairns
Housing
pay 3.0 times more in Cairns
Childcare
pay 67.3% more in Cairns
Entertainment and Sports
pay 4.0 times more in Cairns
Clothing
pay 61.1% more in Cairns

The cost of restaurants, entertainment and sports, housing, groceries, childcare, and clothing in Cairns are more expensive than in Ho Chi Minh City. Notably, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and housing are significantly more expensive in Cairns.

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Cairns vs. Ho Chi Minh City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cairns instead of Ho Chi Minh City, you would:

pay 5.6 times more for restaurants

 
Ho Chi Minh City
Cairns
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $1.92
₫49,832
$17.41
A$25.04
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
 $4.62
₫120K
$12.53
A$18.03
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $0.54
₫13,905
$3.20
A$4.61
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pay 2.1 times more for groceries

 
Ho Chi Minh City
Cairns
Bread
1 loaf
 $1.08
₫27,843
$2.70
A$3.89
Local cheese (8 oz) $6.05
₫157K
$4.64
A$6.68
Milk (1 gallon) $6.13
₫159K
$7.13
A$10.26
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pay 33.8% more for transportation

 
Ho Chi Minh City
Cairns
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.55
₫91,950
$4.78
A$6.88
Monthly public transit pass $11.55
₫299K
$15.32
A$22.04
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $30,715.02
₫795M
$30,929.08
A$44,495.87
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pay 3.0 times more for housing

 
Ho Chi Minh City
Cairns
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
 $10.46
₫271K
$66.14
A$95.16
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $585.86
₫15M
$1,444.70
A$2,078.40
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $297.81
₫8M
$1,219.81
A$1,754.87
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pay 67.3% more for childcare

 
Ho Chi Minh City
Cairns
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $438.36
₫11M
$2,075.49
A$2,985.89
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $23,561.82
₫610M
$13,924.80
A$20,032.81
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pay 4.0 times more for entertainment and sports

 
Ho Chi Minh City
Cairns
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $1.03
₫26,762
$6.96
A$10.02
Cappuccino in mid-range area $1.81
₫46,978
$4.35
A$6.26
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
 $1.23
₫31,892
$44.55
A$64.09
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pay 61.1% more for clothing

 
Ho Chi Minh City
Cairns
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
 $51.59
₫1M
$90.28
A$129.88
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
 $34.61
₫896K
$71.94
A$103.50
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
 $91.59
₫2M
$123.00
A$176.96
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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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